alright then. tomorrow morning, I head to my folks. for two weeks.
I shouldn't, but I have anxiety about this. I haven't spent this much time at home since going raw...or actually,,,for years.
over thanksgiving, I ate about 80% (I'm usually 95-99+). When I got back to NY, and was raw again, I was sweating and sticky and yuck for a day or two.
I'm not looking for advice, so much as support...and maybe commisserants who may be facing the same thing.
First thing to do, tagalong at the grocery store and fill up in the produce section. (though, even with enough fruit around, it was tough to turn down my mom's cooked veg'n food when we all sit down for dinner.)
well, here's heading off.

measure twice, cut once.

"In Watermelon Sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar." ~r.brautigan

I make paintings

shaine i can't help you but i can tell you a funny (and gross) story.

once at a family dinner at my aunt's she served a roast pork thingy instead of foul (oops, or is that fowl? ha ha). well, that has always been off the list for me, no matter if i am eating everything else or not. BECAUSE when we lived on the hippy commune nobody informed us kiddies that the pig was meant as dinner, not our pet. her pen was between the houses and the raspberry patch and she was WILD for raspberries! no one got past that pen without throwing her a handful, or two or three. the trick was to withstand her pathetically beggy squealing for as long as you could, then toss her a handful at the far end of the fence then run! that way by the time she was done you'd be passed her and she couldn't effectively beg you for more. darn, that was one irresistable piggy, you just couldn't say no.

well, we all got the shock of our lives the day her reign of raspberry sweetness came to a close. the kids all stood around numbed out of our minds at what was happening to our pet pig. there weren't even any tears, we were just traumatized senseless, at least until later on when they tried to feed her to us. ugh.

anyhow, at this dinner of my auntie's while my brother, sister and mama were happily sucking away at the piggy i leaned over and whispered the name of that pig into my little sister's ear. down went the fork, up went the dander "oh gross, how could you?!". little bro had to horn in on the deal so he got a whisper from the little sister, same reaction, then mama had to know, etc etc.
i just sat back and smiled my little pork-free smile at the kafuffle i instigated. ha. everybody ate a lot of stuffing and potatoes that year, my aunt probably had left over pork soup for months.

i remember that dinner when i visit family and it always makes me smile and shores up my willpower too. you got something like that you can focus on?



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2007 02:10AM by coco.

Stay strong, Shaine! You can do it!

Kafuffle - never heard that word before, but I like it.

Just remember...it's not about YOU...it's about them....and you aint doing them ANY favors by being other than peaceful....and eating what YOU need to eat....and accepting them for who they are.

-David Z. mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

Coco,
What a great story! You have me grinning ear to ear.
Love From Uti

Shaine,
One way to look at the situation is to see the vegan food your mom prepares as sacred, a gift prepared in love and consumed with gratefulness.

When I go back to Tennessee to visit my mom and sister I am confronted with a barrage of non-vegan, much less raw, food events. Food is such a central part of their social life; everything revolves around the food. First of all I refuse to allow myself to get mired down in self-judgment about my food choices for that opens the door to them judging me. When the little passive-aggressive comments about my diet float my way they roll off like water on a duck's back.

Last time I was there I was having a meal with them and they had cooked some of my old country style southern favorites. Cornbread, turnip greens and blackeye peas with a treasured family recipe condiment sweet red relish made with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and of course, white sugar. I ate very small amounts of those things because I felt the love that went into preparing them. Funny thing, I never felt any adverse effects from that food, which was not vegan, and I was pretty clean at the time, having done a 20 something day water fast a couple of months before and several years of cleanses before that during my transition to clean vegan and then raw.

A yogi friend of mine tells a story of visiting his aging mother back in Pittsburgh years after he became vegan and had become very sensitive to the negative energy of dead flesh and meat eaters. His mother had little capacity to understand his path. He talks about the experience of accompanying her to the neighborhood butcher shop, buying the meat favorites she adored, taking them home and cutting them up just the way she liked them and then cooking them for her. What he says is that he used it as an opportunity to surrender to the will of god with an act of love and in that place the negative energies never touched him or disturbed his peace.

Hopefully these stories will help you see another picture and make your holidays with your loved ones more joyful.
Wishing You Love,

wow, uti, powerful stories! i felt the way you did about eating pure love and never having a bad reaction to it when i was travelling and would stop at the temples for sunday krishna dinner. i was full raw then and had been for some time, still nothing but a positive reaction to that consumable love energy for me.

i wonder too about the body's ability to pass it on through once you're clean enough inside, is it a bigger issue when you are still transitioning to raw and those old addictions have a hold on you? does that fall away over time to the point that a slice of bread would be no biggie for your digestive system to handle and dispose of? interesting thoughts. i'm sure each person would have a unique experience but how fascinating just the same.

peace. happy holy days to all.

I just successfully made it thru my first raw xmas eve dinner. My mom makes shrimp, broccoli and pasta with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese every single year for xmas eve dinner. Used to be one of my favorite meals for the whole year.

I brought my spiral slicer home to moms and made zucchini pasta with a pesto sauce. Surprisingly, everyone tried some of mine and liked it! And, it was much easier than I thought it would be to not be tempted by a thing they were eating. :-)

The real test will be xmas breakfast and dinner. Ugh.

Shaine, I hope all goes well spending time with the fam....and good luck to everyone else going thru similar situations!

A slight correction to the story of my yogi friend. He was from Philadelphia, not Pittsburgh. That would probably be offensive to someone from Philly

Coco,
I don't know if this is a true story or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were. Krishna Das, Ram Das, Bagavan Das or one of the other Americans who were disciples of Neem Karoli Baba in the late 1960's told the story of their guru asking them about the LSD they were taking. When he was shown a handful of hits he suddenly scooped them up and swallowed them to their horror. The story goes that he never showed any signs of being affected by the drug.

It is said that an advanced yogi can control every cell and fiber of their being. So I don't doubt that we novices can handle a little bit of cooked foods on occasion if our perspective sees it as love and a gift from god.

I think I have another dinner today, but last night I just had celery sticks and played with Hershey's Kisses foil on my plate while everyone else ate. Good thing I'm the youngest, I don't get bothered much by anyone and they already know I only eat raw as I've eaten things like apples and bits from vegetable platters at past events. Even though it's raw, I also declined wine because I feel it would be detrimental to my health.

We have barely any raw food in my house so I'm going to eat very lightly because we've spent so much money on Christmas lately. Today I'll have charentais melon and yesterday I had grated carrots in nori sheets.

<3 Good luck, Shaine. I'm sure you'll be fine. Us New Yorkers are tough, whether upstate or downstate.

Ughh I am in the middle of this now, too. I make a point of eating a raw breakfast and going out for a run after that but lunch or dinner my mom makes me some vegan dish and I eat it. So what! OK I don't feel great but it's not only the food but also because I don't like the stuffy holiday atmosphere and all this sitting around. All the best!! I have to say I could kill for a good two pints of my beloved dandelion juice now.

alright. it's been nearly a week. I've been pretty well raw, about 80%--like thanksgiving. the thing is, every time I'm tempted, I eat another apple or a bowl of romaine and by the end of the day, I'm so stuffed. I don't like eating so constanty. But it's keeping me out of trouble I suppose.
mashed sweet potatoes with maple syrup were hard to pass up...

I'm leaving for costa rica on the 5th. That'll be one lovely week of clean air, muddy feet, surf, fresh tropical fruit, and plenty of delicious sun. Maybe I'll barely notice the detox. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks for the funny(sad) story about the pig.

and for everyone else on this boat, just forgive your stomach. I am.

measure twice, cut once.

"In Watermelon Sugar the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar." ~r.brautigan

I make paintings

Shaine, have fun in the surf..and we are all with you in spirit!

Love,
Prism

Shaine, I hope it is continuing to go well for you. It sounds like it has been pretty good, so far.

Love,

Gypsy

Shaine,

Eat a watermelon for me in Costa Rica. They were really good when I was there last winter. Safe Journey and Blessings for the New Year!

I am especially with you in spirit in Costa Rica!! Have fun!!

Awsome stories everyone ! This is like having a good book